Hepatic transcriptome analysis identifies genes, polymorphisms and pathways involved in the fatty acids metabolism in sheep

Abstract

Fatty acids (FA) in ruminants, especially unsaturated FA (USFA) have important impact in meat quality, nutritional value, and flavour quality of meat, and on consumer’s health. Identification of the genetic factors controlling the FA composition and metabolism is pivotal to select sheep that produce higher USFA and lower saturated (SFA) for the benefit of sheep industry and consumers. Therefore, this study was aimed to investigate the transcriptome profiling in the liver tissues collected from sheep with divergent USFA content in longissimus muscle using RNA deep-sequencing. From sheep (n = 100) population, liver tissues with higher (n = 3) and lower (n = 3) USFA content were analysed using Illumina HiSeq 2500. The total number of reads produced for each liver sample were ranged from 21.28 to 28.51 million with a median of 23.90 million. Approximately, 198 genes were differentially regulated with significance level of p-adjusted value <0.05. Among them, 100 genes were up-regulated, and 98 were down-regulated (p<0.01, FC>1.5) in the higher USFA group. A large proportion of key genes involved in FA biosynthesis, adipogenesis, fat deposition, and lipid metabolism were identified, such as APOA5, SLC25A30, GFPT1, LEPR, TGFBR2, FABP7, GSTCD, and CYP17A. Pathway analysis revealed that glycosaminoglycan biosynthesis- keratan sulfate, adipokine signaling, galactose metabolism, endocrine and other factors-regulating calcium metabolism, mineral metabolism, and PPAR signaling pathway were playing important regulatory roles in FA metabolism. Importantly, polymorphism and association analyses showed that mutation in APOA5, CFHR5, TGFBR2 and LEPR genes could be potential markers for the FA composition in sheep. These polymorphisms and transcriptome networks controlling the FA variation could be used as genetic markers for FA composition-related traits improvement. However, functional validation is required to confirm the effect of these SNPs in other sheep population in order to incorporate them in the sheep breeding program.

Pan-Omics in Sheep: Unveiling Genetic Landscapes

“…Further insights into the interaction between the candidate lncRNA MSTRG.259847.2 and its target gene SMAD2 were substantiated in sheep pituitary cells [44]. By utilizing RNA-seq, an investigation into the unsaturated fatty acid content in sheep muscle uncovered mutations in genes like APOA17, CFHR5, TGFBR5, and LEPR associated with fatty acid composition [45]. Moreover, RNA-seq revealed differentially expressed mRNAs in the hypothalamus, pituitary, and ovary of Small-Tailed Han sheep and Tan sheep, exposing key genes implicated in estrogenic processes.…”

Genome-Wide Transcriptome Profiling Reveals the Mechanisms Underlying Hepatic Metabolism under Different Raising Systems in Yak

“…Numerous research studies have been conducted in this area, contributing to a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying lipid metabolism in these animals. Asep Gunawan et al [ 17 ] identified a possible candidate gene that controls the composition and metabolism of the sheep liver through transcriptomics analysis of unsaturated fatty acids (FA). Huang et al [ 18 ] compared the liver transcriptome of Jinhua pigs and landrace pigs and found that some differentially expressed genes were involved in the processes of redox, lipid synthesis, and metabolism.…”

Novel polymorphisms of dopa decarboxylase gene and their association with lamb quality traits in Indonesian sheep

“…Improvingement of lamb quality is expected to increase the meat's nutritional value, of meat that iswhich benefitscial to human health. Therefore, To improve the genetics of sheep, breeding programs are recommended as one of the most realistic approaches performed using candidate genes through identification variant analysis to enhance the genetic of sheep [6,7]. A few studies by molecular genetics have been done and focussed on lamb, including lamb quality traits, carcass characteristics, fatty acid composition, A c c e p t e d A r t i c l e and flavor and odor.…”